The Tree House
by Halley the Comet
Summary: Barney finds his childhood best friend again after she moved away without any explanation and he finds himself falling for her. But Rowan has dreams of her own. She wants to find her dream job. But will it come at a price? Could she lose what she's just gained - her best friend, after years apart?
1. The Tree House

_Staten Island_

_28 years ago_

_A boy walked out of his house. When he got to the end of the road, he turned right, and carried on walking. He walked and walked, until finally, he found the place he was looking for._

_It was a forest. The boy, although he was only eight, had been fashioning a tree-house to play in._

_Someone had already made one a few years ago, but a group of kids had come and destroyed most of it. All that was left was the splintered roof, near the brink of collapsing._

_He found old planks of wood that someone had thrown out, carelessly dumped in the forest, and gathered them up carefully. He leaned them against the tree, and started to climb slowly up._

_When he got to a reasonable height, the boy stood up on a thick branch, scanning for other things he cou__ld use in his tree house. He spotted something, half-hidden by a wide tree. Thinking it was an animal; he picked up a rock and threw it. It wasn't that he wanted to hurt it; he just wanted to see what it was._

_To his surprised a wail of pain came from near the tree. He quickly slid down from the tree, scraping his sides in the process, and ran clumsily to see what it was._

_A girl, about his age, looked up. She was clutching her arm, wincing slightly. A small bead of red rolled down her arm and dripped onto the forest floor._

'_Who are you?' the boy asked, worried. Had she come to claim the tree house for her own?_

'_I'm Rowan,' she sniffed. There was a shine of tears in her eyes. 'You hit me with a rock.'_

'_I'm sorry,' the boy said awkwardly, shuffling his feet uneasily. 'Are you okay?'_

'_I think so.' Rowan stood up shakily, rubbing her arm. 'What are you doing?'_

'_I'm building a tree house,' the boy said quietly. 'Do you want to help?'_

_Rowan's eyes brightened. 'Okay.'_

_The boy stuck out his hand, like the men did to his mom when they introduced themselves to her. 'I'm Barney Stinson,' he said._


	2. The Girl

_**Hello fellow fanfiction fans! I have now uploaded chapter 2 for you to read **_

_**Also I have been reading through my first chapter, and I apologise for any spelling mistakes or geographical errors. I have never been to America, but I would love to go someday. And Rowan isn't a spelling mistake btw, she's a different character. I didn't even realise it sounded so similar to 'Robin' until I re-read my chapter.**_

**Present day**

**Maclaren's Bar**

Ted walked through the pub and ordered a scotch, while scanning around to see if his friends were there. Barney was sitting alone at their regular booth, sipping his drink. He didn't look very happy, and seemed to be staring into the distance, a blank look in his eyes.

_Maybe he and Quinn hit a reef_, Ted thought. He mentally slapped himself. _Why did I just think that? Oh God, I'm a terrible friend. _

He made his way over to him. 'Hey. What's up?' he asked, sliding into the opposite seat.

'Quinn and I broke up,' Barney said dully, trying not to make eye contact and stared into his glass.

'Oh…I'm sorry, dude.' Although Ted didn't really trust Quinn very much, he did feel bad for his friend. 'What happened? You two were so good together.'

'I dunno…we rushed into things too quick, she said,' Barney told him. 'She got all freaked out. Said she wasn't ready for marriage yet. She got all of her stuff and left. She's gonna beg for her job back and get a new apartment. She put the ring on the table. So I guess it's over.'

'I'm so sorry, Barney.' Ted couldn't help wondering if there was another reason for Quinn leaving.

'Nah, it's okay. I guess she couldn't handle all the awesome I was giving her.' Barney tried to smile but he still looked sad, rubbing his ring finger anxiously.

'So are you gonna date properly now?' Ted asked. 'I mean, you're not gonna go back to one night stands again, are you?'

'I don't know. Maybe, _eventually_,' Barney said, slowly. 'I can't really go back to the strip club.' He took a gulp of his drink. 'Anyway, you've got Victoria now. How's that going?'

'Good…good.' Ted was silent for a minute or two. He liked Victoria and he wanted to be with her, but he couldn't help feeling bad for what they had done to Klaus. Ted wondered what Klaus was doing now. Was he trying to call her, or maybe hooking up with someone to take his mind off things? 'It's just, I feel really bad about Klaus, y'know?' he said, leaning forward. 'Remember how I was when Stella left me at the wedding?'

'Dude, how could we not?' Barney was looking a little more cheerful than when Ted had first seen him.

Ted looked a little insulted. 'Well, Klaus is going through the exact same thing that I was before. Do you think I made the wrong choice by taking Victoria?'

Before Barney could answer Lily, accompanied by Robin, ran through the door. Lily's hair was scraped back into a messy ponytail and she was wearing a T-shirt that was several sizes too big. She looked completely panicked.

Ted and Barney stared at her. 'Lily, what the hell…?' Ted asked, his brow wrinkled in confusion.

'It's Marvin!' Lily said, sounding scared. 'He's really ill. I don't think he's going to make it. What am I going to do; I don't know what I'm supposed to do!'

'Lily, Lily, calm down,' Barney said soothingly.

'What's wrong with Marvin?' Ted asked.

'Okay, so I was putting him in his crib for a nap,' Lily told them, sliding down shakily into a seat. Robin sat next to Ted, her eyes dramatically wide. 'And then he suddenly lets out this wail and then he sneezed. He sneezed! What if he can't breathe properly?'

Ted and Barney exchanged glances. 'Lily, you ran here just to tell us that your baby _sneezed_?' Barney laughed. Ted joined in; laughing hysterically at Lily's face.

'But it might be serious!' Robin added.

In between laughs Ted reassured them both that it was nothing to worry about, Marvin isn't ill, all babies get a little cold once in a while, and _no,_ he is not dying.

Soon they were all laughing together, although Lily's was slightly higher pitched. Marshall came in after about half an hour.

'Where's Marvin?' Lily asked.

'Oh, I gave him to my mom.' Lily snorted and muttered something under her breath. Marshall chose to ignore her.

'So what's new?' he asked.

'Barney broke up with Quinn,' Ted said.

'What? Seriously?' They all started to speak at once. Barney shortened his story down to 'we rushed things, she freaked out, and we broke up'.

'_**Can't you do that, Dad?'**_

'_**Yeah Dad, this has gone on for a while. Can we go watch TV?'**_

'_**No. Now, where was I?'**_

Barney let his eyes wander across the bar. Blondes, brunettes, redheads, even a girl with rainbow-dyed hair, were all talking and drinking. Picking one up would be easy.

His eyes drifted to the door.

He could go home.

But he didn't.

And he was glad for at that moment, a girl walked through the door of MacLaren's. His eyes lit up, and his mouth dropped open in shock.

It wasn't that she was pretty – she was rather ordinary looking, with plain, slightly wavy, brown hair pulled back in a bobble, although her eyes were a deep brown colour, sparkling prettily in the dim yellow light.

Rowan.


	3. The Games

_**Flashback**_

_Barney and Rowan had become fast friends, and luckily they were in the same class at school. When the teacher wasn't looking they swapped desks with the kids __sitting next to them so they could sit together._

_They passed each other notes, and wrote each other the answers when they didn't understand something. In the playground, they went off into their own little corner and just talked. Neither of them liked sports much, so they avoided it as much as possible and just hung around together._

_Some of the kids found it strange that a boy and a girl could be best friends. Barney and Rowan didn't care. _

_They played game in the morning, before the teacher did the register. Squares, Hangman, and Noughts and Crosses became the most fun games to play. And then their peace was interrupted by the teacher reading the names out._

'_Susannah Lakes?'_

'_Here Miss.'_

'_Jack Penford?'_

'_Here miss.'_

'_Barnabas Stinson?'_

_When the teacher read his name out Rowan would grin at him and mouth 'Barnabas, Barnabas,' at him. He retorted by sticking his tongue out at her. He didn't mind. He was just thrilled he had a friend. _

_But their happiness couldn't last for ever._


	4. The Chase

**Present Day**

'Barney?' A voice that sounded like Lily's drew him from his shock.

Barney jumped up so abruptly he knocked over his glass of scotch. It spilled all over the table, dripping onto his suit jacket. For once, Barney didn't care.

'Barney! What's wrong?' Marshall sounded alarmed. Robin was staring at him, and Ted was looking at him weirdly.

Barney didn't hear him. He slid out of the booth, ignoring the confused looks his friends were giving him, and collided with the waitress who was bringing the drinks over to them.

'Sorry, sorry,' he said hurriedly. _Rowan_, he thought. She was walking out of the bar. She hadn't seen him.

He ran past the waitress and was stopped by the chick with the rainbow-dyed hair. She smiled at him cheekily, her eyes glittering. He swallowed.

'Wanna go somewhere?' the girl smiled at him. Any other day he would have jumped to this offer – but not today.

'Sorry, not now,' he said apologetically.

Her face fell. She glared at him angrily and said, 'why not?'

Barney was straining to see Rowan again, but she had gone. _Damn. _Maybe he could catch her up.

'I have to go,' he said, edging past her quickly. He ran out of the bar, hurriedly trying to wipe the scotch off his jacket.

'What's wrong with him?' Robin frowned, still staring after him. 'He just ran straight out!'

There was a pause and then they all scrambled up and started to run after him.

_**I'm sorry if chapter 2 was a bit boring. I just had to get the Quinn-thing out of the way. I'm know I'm doing slightly shorter chapters, but I should be doing a longer one after this. ;)**_


	5. The Disappearance

**Oops, I just realised, I haven't put a Disclaimer on here. So, um, I don't own the characters of HIMYM. **

**This is a sad chapter for little Barney. Please don't hate me! **

_**(Flashback)**_

'_Barney!'_

_Barney sprinted ahead, grinning as Rowan tried to catch him._

'_Barney, wait for me!' she called. Her foot caught on a stone and she slipped clumsily. She toppled over, cutting her knees a little on the sticks on the ground. 'Ow!'_

'_Are you okay?' Barney ran back to her with an armful of twigs and sticks for their 'final construction' of their tree house. They had built most of the outside with planks of wood, with twigs and leaves covering part of the holes. Barney had suggested bringing some stuff from home to put into it, but Rowan objected, saying the older kids might come back and ruin it again._

'_Fine,' Rowan said distractedly. She plucked something off the ground and showed it to Barney. 'Look at this!' It was a red cloth, in the shape of a slanted triangle. 'We could make this into a flag.'_

'_We could call it, 'The Awesome Club,' Barney suggested, making Rowan laugh. _

_She glanced at her watch, suddenly shocked. 'Oh no!' she said. 'I was supposed to go home at five.'_

_Rowan set the cloth-flag and the supplies she had dropped onto the floor near the tree house. She started to run, but then slowed to a walk, glancing over her shoulder at Barney. ''Bye Barney.'_

''_Bye,' Barney said happily. 'Are you coming tomorrow?'_

'_Yes,' Rowan called._

'_Can you come to my house next week? It's my birthday,' Barney shouted to her._

'_Okay!'_

'_Bye!'_

_**(The next day)**_

Barney_ sat at his desk, wondering where Rowan was. It wasn't like her to miss the valuable time they had playing Squares before lessons started. The minutes passed by but Rowan still didn't show up. _

_Soon the teacher did the register. When she called out Rowan's name, she stared at Barney suspiciously, as if he might have something to do with her not being there._

'_Has anyone seen Rowan Hailwel?' she asked. Barney could swear he could see the lasers shooting into his head through the teacher's red-rimmed glasses._

_Barney shook his head, confused. Rowan wasn't ill, was she? But she had seemed fine yesterday. _

_Rowan didn't show up the next day either._

_Or the next. Or the next._

_Or the next._

_After almost a week and no Rowan, Barney decided to go to her house to see her. He hadn't gone to her house much; they constantly went to his because they usually had it to themselves as his mom went out so often. _

_When he walked up the path he realised her mom's car wasn't in the driveway. He blinked, and then stared at the door. He raised his door to knock, until he realised there was a doorbell. _

_He rang it. There was no answer._

_He rang again, and again._

_He knocked instead, beginning to feel desperate. Were they out? On holiday? Rowan hadn't said anything about a holiday. _

_His hand throbbed. No one had answered. He stepped onto the grass, and hesitantly looked through the window instead._

_Part of him wished he hadn't._

_The Hailwel's living room was always bright with colour, noise, laughter. Rowan's two older brothers, Dean and Frank, and her younger sister Anna made sure of that. _

_And the furniture…the dull green sofa, camouflaged by brightly patterned orange cushions and soft blue blankets, was gone. All that was left of it was some faint marks in the brown carpet from where the sofa had been._

_The room was completely empty._

_Barney stepped away from the window, shocked. He felt his eyes brimming, but blinked angrily, refusing to believe it._

_She wasn't gone. She was his best friend._

_Barney ran as quickly as he could away from the house. His legs felt slightly stiff from waiting so long at the door. _

_Black clouds were beginning to form in the sky. It was going to be the start of a storm. _

_He didn't care. He ran into the forest instead, hurling himself down on the ground as soon as he found the tree. Droplets of rain splashed onto his face. His fingers ran over sticks on the ground and wedged in the middle…the bit of cloth that Rowan had shown to him._

_He fingered it sadly, feeling his eyes water. He tucked it into his pocket, swallowing hard._

_Rain was pouring hard. Barney stared up at the grey sky, tucking his knees into his chest. _

_Maybe she would come back again._

_But she never did. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, he waited. _

_And he never saw Rowan Hailwel again._


	6. The Sighting

**Hi again guys. I originally typed this up a while ago, but my mum decided it would be OK to burst into my room while I was typing this, so I closed it quick without saving. (Drat!)**

'_Rowan!_' Barney shouted, staring for that oh-so-familiar brown, wavy-haired head. 'Rowan!'

He sprinted up the steps of MacLaren's Pub, straining to see her. He couldn't believe he had just let her go like that. He was even more shocked that she hadn't seen him.

There she was, walking confidently, with a slight smile. He was pleased to see that she hadn't changed a bit. She paused for a moment, adjusting her jacket and slinging her handbag into a better position, and continued walking.

He started to run after her but collided with a guy who was walking his three dogs. His arms flailed around wildly, his ankles twisted in the leash, but he managed to free himself.

Rowan looked around, frowning. She hesitated, half-turned to go again.

He ran to her, but in his eagerness he crashed right into her. Her bag slipped off her shoulder, falling onto the floor. The clasp popped open, various items such as chewing gum wrappers, coins, bits of paper and make-up case fell out.

He bent down to help her pick it up. She looked like she was in a hurry; she hadn't even looked up from collecting her things. They worked at putting everything back in, did the bag up, and then Barney handed it back to her, half crouching, and half standing.

'I'm so sorry –' Rowan mumbled, looking to meet his eyes at last. Confusion flashed across her face, and for a moment Barney feared she wouldn't remember him. A second later she gasped, '_Barney_?' and threw her arms around him happily. Relieved that Rowan remembered him, he hugged her back tightly.

Ted, Marshall, Lily and Robin were standing at the end of the street, staring in confusion as a girl they had seen in the bar just then threw her arms around Barney.

Lily leaned towards Marshall and subtly whispered, 'Ten bucks says she was a crazy one-night stand.'


	7. The Heart Attack

**I'm back, baby doll – with a brand new chapter! I think my first intention when I started to write this fanfiction was to make it about three chapters long. Didn't really go to plan…**

_When Barney called bye to Rowan, she set off home. She didn't actually need to go home early – she just wanted to see if her mom was okay. She had been acting a little weird lately. _

_Rowan blinked when she saw the van, parked right outside her house. While she stared, some men came out of the house, carrying large boxes. They exchanged small talk and then started loading the boxes into the van. Rowan ran past them, up the steps, threw open the door and ran straight into her mom._

'_Mom!' she said, surprised._

'_Oh sweetie!' her mom exclaimed, relieved. 'I was wondering where you were.' Her eyes looked red, a tissue clutched in her hand. She pulled her daughter into a tight hug. 'You need to go upstairs and pack, quickly. Your father –' her mom stopped dead. _

'_What? What's wrong with dad?' Rowan said, 'is he okay?'_

'_Your dad's had a heart attack, honey.' Her mom withdrew her from the hug, staring into her eyes. Her hands gripped her shoulders urgently. 'We're going to live near him, wait till he's better. He needs us all.' She wiped her eyes, blinking hard. She smiled at her daughter bravely. 'Anna's upstairs, packing your room up. Dean and Frank are going to help put the boxes in the van. You should go and help your sister, sweetie.'_

_Her mother kissed her cheek and shooed her upstairs. Rowan dazedly made her way up the stairs, unable to believe it. She knew her dad was away on a business trip. The thought of him lying in hospital, tubes spurting out of his nostrils, doctor's cutting his chest open with their evil instruments of torture made her want to cry._

_Fir the rest of the day, and all of tomorrow the family were busy packing. After a few short days they were loading the boxes into the van. Rowan couldn't believe it was over that quickly. _

_Dean and Frank rode in the van with the driver. Rowan sat with Anna in the back seat. Almost one week had gone by in a flash. They were really moving._

'_Ready to go?' her mom asked. _

_Anna squealed excitedly. 'We're going to see Daddy; we're going to see Daddy!' Rowan realised that her mother hadn't told her little sister the full story, to save her feelings. Dean and Frank, her twin brothers, were almost fifteen, so they would know too._

_It was only that when they were driving away that Rowan realised she had forgotten something. _

_They drove past trees, houses. Leaves fell softly. A light drizzle of rain, which soon turned to a storm, splattered the windscreen. Her mom grumbled in annoyance, switching the windscreen wipers on._

_It was only when they drove past a particular house that Rowan realised. Barney! She had forgotten all about him! __She twisted around in her seat quickly, but it was too late. They had driven past the forest. All that was left in sight were a few lone trees._

_She thought of Barney, sitting alone at his desk wondering where she was. Why she hadn't said goodbye._


	8. The City

**Chapter 8 is up! Also, I'm thinking of changing the name of this story. What do you think?**

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Rowan was so thrilled at seeing her best friend again that she cancelled the job interview she had been going to. After talking excitedly for a few minutes, they went to have coffee in a nearby café.

'I can't believe we ran into each other!' She said as they sat down at the table. 'It's been _years_.'

'It has,' Barney smiled, hesitating slightly. He ran his finger on the hot cup, and then said: 'where did you go?'

Rowan looked blank for a minute, and then he face dawned with realisation. 'When I left?' she asked quietly. Barney nodded, looking at her.

'I'm _so_ sorry I didn't call or write, Barney,' she suddenly blurted out. 'We just moved so quickly, and I didn't have time to write down the address and I only just realised when we were driving away and I felt so terrible –'

'Wait, wait.' He held his hand up. 'Where exactly did you go though?'

Rowan swallowed. 'My dad – he was on a business trip. We hadn't seen him for a while. Then my mom got a call from the hospital near to where he was working…'

'Oh no…' Barney said softly, gripping his cup.

Rowan nodded. 'Yes. When I got home after I saw you in the tree house, mom told me to go and pack. Dad had a heart attack…' Even as she said it, her eyes filled with tears. She blinked them away hurriedly. 'It wasn't supposed to be permanent but in the end…'

'Did he…?'

'Yeah.' Rowan wiped her eyes.

'Oh – I'm so sorry,' Barney said. He felt terrible. All this time _he_ was the one who had felt hurt; cross even, that Rowan hadn't attempted to get back in touch. Now that he had heard the full story, he didn't care.

He had been complaining about his lack of a father for most of his adult life, until he found out the truth. Realising that Rowan had to struggle throughout her childhood missing someone she had already known made him feel like the biggest jerk in the world.

Rowan sniffed again, trying to smile. 'I'm so sorry I didn't write, Barney,' she said.

'It's okay,' he said, and he meant it. 'What did you do after that?'

'I went to a different school. I didn't make another friend like you though.' Barney grinned. 'Mom was really upset for ages. She would stay in the bed for days, just lying there. It took ages for her to even get up in the morning.'

Barney nodded sadly, feeling bad for her.

'She did get better though, eventually. Then she found a job, and stuck to it. After a while it was mostly back to normal. And then Frank found a job too, and then he – Barney, are you listening?'

Barney was staring out of the window, frowning. He could've sworn he just saw Marshall, Lily and Ted staring in at them. 'I think I saw my friends, spying on us,' he told her.

'Your friends?'

'Lily, Marshall and Ted. While they can be awesome, they can also be insane.'

They grinned at each other, and started talking. Some things didn't matter, but were fun to talk to. Other things were important, such as Rowan's boyfriend, whom she had dated for two years but then they had broken up recently.

Barney admitted to his engagement with Quinn which had lasted for about a month, before they broke it off. They ended up having a laugh about it, both having a great time.

Someone switched on some music. Rowan lifted her head, smiling at the familiar beat of the song. 'Oh, _Vengaboys_! I love them,' she grinned.

'What about Bon Jovi?'

'Okay, Bon Jovi is pretty amazing too,' Rowan admitted.

* * *

_Wake me up! Take me to the city!_

_Wake me up!_

_I make myself so pretty!_

_Wake me up! _

_Woah-oh-oh-oh!_


	9. The Letter

_**(Flashback)**_

* * *

_Dear_ Rowan,

_Someone once said that if you write to someone you'll never forget them. I hope I won't forget you. You were my only friend, and now I know that you won't be coming back, ever. I'm still upset that you haven't written to me, or called. I just want to say that I miss you._

_Miss moved our seating plan yesterday. I'm next to Alex Thomson and Susannah Pwyski. Sometimes I think she does it because she hates me. Although she hasn't been as mean lately. I think she feels sorry for me now you're gone. She doesn't even tell me off when I don't do any work or when I start drawing on a piece of paper, ready for our next game of Squares – only to realise that I can't play it any more. I don't mean to moan, I just wish you could have told me that you were leaving. You didn't have to keep it a secret, you know. I would've been okay with it. Well, I would have eventually. _

_So, I'm just writing to tell you that. Though there's not really much point. You're never going to read it._

Barney.


	10. The Dream

**_So_ sorry about the wait, guys! Our internet was disconnected all through the holidays and we've literally _only just_ got it on.**

**So…I suppose I should admit I don't actually _know_ where this story is going (heh), although I have a few ideas in store. I should be writing a couple more chapters…I'm not sure how many, exactly! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own How I Met Your Mother. **

* * *

'Well, here it is.'

Barney looked around at the apartment. It was almost empty – there was hardly anything _in_ the living room apart from an old leather sofa, which Rowan tossed her jacket on.

There was a matching brown chair, so scraped and ripped it looked like it had been thrown off a cliff and then retrieved again. A simple blue rug was spread out on the floor, perhaps to cover up a few loose floorboards.

'I haven't really had chance to decorate,' Rowan told him as she sat down on the sofa. Barney sat down too, still looking around the room. 'I only moved in about a week ago and I'm still looking for a job…'

'Really?' Barney said, with genuine interest. 'What do you want to do?'

Rowan blushed, looking sheepish. 'You'll laugh,' she said embarrassedly.

'No I won't.'

'You will.'

'I promise I won't,' Barney said.

'You laughed when we were in class and I said I wanted to be a rock guitarist,' Rowan pointed out.

'That was ages ago,' Barney grinned.

'I want to write…you know…books and stuff.' Rowan said, a little shyly, and then looked deep in thought. 'Write a bestseller. I hope. I don't know. My mom wanted me to help in her shop and then _I_ could run it. I didn't want to do that though…well, I helped out for a bit. But I saved up and moved here. Get a part-time job to do with writing and in my spare time, start typing up my story.'

'Your story?'

Rowan smiled. 'That you _will_ laugh at,' she told him, and refused to show it to him even when he begged.

After a while they made plans to meet up again in a few days (Rowan still needed to find a job). Barney had offered to help her with her apartment, which Rowan accepted with relief.

When Barney was just about to say goodbye, he stopped at her desk, where her laptop sat, unopened. 'Go on…show it to me?'

'No…you won't like it…'

'Please? Please? Please?'

In the end Rowan reluctantly showed him a bit of the story she was typing up. And when Barney left, all he could think about was how much he had wanted to read the rest.


	11. The Sadness

**Sorry for the wait again, guys. I've been unbelievably busy so I haven't had any time to type the rest of the fanfic up. **

**This time the flashback is about Rowan, which I thought would be pretty interesting to write as most of the flashbacks have been about Barney. **

**Enjoy! (Hopefully)**

'_Mom?'_

'_Not now, honey,' Lola Hailwel whispered._

_Rowan stood dithering, wondering what to do. Should she go and leave her mom to cry in peace, or should she try to comfort her? _

_Hesitantly, Rowan clambered onto the bed, craning her neck to see if her mom was crying. She was. _

'_Please, Mom.' Rowan touched her mother's arm carefully. 'Don't cry.'_

_This didn't help much and her mom continued crying, although now Rowan was next to her she tried to cover up her sobs. She reached out for a crumpled up tissue lying on her drawers and blew her nose quickly. _

'_Sorry, darling,' she told her daughter, smiling even though her eyes were red. 'I just…have a cold, that's all.'_

_Rowan stared at her, resisting the urge to raise her eyebrow. Who did she think she was kidding? She was almost nine; she wasn't a little kid anymore. _

'_I'm not little, Mom,' she told her mother seriously. _

_Lola smiled through her tears. 'You're still my little girl, missy,' she said, turning over and tickling her daughter. Rowan squealed excitedly, happy to see her mom cheered up a little. But the spell ended as soon as it had begun and her mom flopped back down on the bed, suddenly quiet._

'_Do you miss Daddy, Mommy?' Rowan said, suddenly reverting back into a little kid. Slowly she edged neared to her mom, who put her arms around her daughter and hugged her._

'_Yeah, honey,' she said softly. 'I miss him a lot.'_

'_I miss him too.'_

'_I know, sweetie.' Lola stared at her daughter's wavy brown hair sadly. 'We all do.' _

'_Do Dean and Frank?' Rowan asked._

'_Yes.'_

'_They don't talk about him.'_

'_They –' Lola hesitated. 'They think it's easier if they don't.'_

'_Oh.' Rowan wriggled a little in her mom's arms. 'Does Anna?'_

'_Yeah, darling. But…' Lola shuffled into a sitting position. 'They think it's better not to talk about him. But… we should, shouldn't we? We'll all be sad if we don't.'_

_Rowan nodded. _

_Lola hugged her daughter again, her tears dried up. 'Okay, sweetie. I'll go get changed, shall I?'_

_Rowan nodded again, watching her mother pad out of the bedroom in her dressing gown. Her eyes automatically went to the picture of her father, which her mom had put on the bedside drawers. She touched the silver frame softly, noting her father's features. The dark blue eyes that always sparkled whenever his kids made him laugh. The wavy brown hair that Rowan and Anne had. His pale skin that would never tan properly, not even when they were on holiday (a running joke amongst the Hailwel family). _

_Her mom came back into the bedroom, dressed in a bright yellow top with dark blue jeans and a necklace with a droplet of amber threaded through, which she hadn't worn since her husband's death three months ago._

_She noticed her daughter looking at the picture, and smiled bravely. 'Come on, honey.' She took her daughter's hand and they walked out of the room. Anne saw them, and grabbed her mother's other hand, just to feel included. 'Let's go and talk to Dean and Frank, shall we?'_

**I felt kind of down writing this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be a bit happier!**


	12. The Story

**Argh! I just realised I made a mistake in the old chapter, so this is a re-upload. Did you see it?**

* * *

Rowan stared blankly at the laptop screen and sighed in annoyance. Her eyes scanned over her latest chapter of her story.

'_What's that?' I asked, as a bright white glow filled the room. My eyes stung in the light and I squinted hard, trying to see what the thing was. I gasped as I saw…_

Sighing, she hit the backspace key. Why did her stories always sound so great in her head but so lame when she typed them up?

She spun round on her swivel-chair (she'd always wanted one when she was a kid) and chewed a pen thoughtfully. She took it out of her mouth and rolled it around her hands. She twisted the lid with her thumb, a little too hard. The lid came off the pen and fell onto the floor near her phone.

Rowan bent to pick it up and, noticing her phone, gave it a quick glance.

_1 NEW MESSAGE_.

She automatically unlocked her phone and glanced at the message.

'Clive,' she said aloud. Her finger hovered over the MESSAGES button, but she changed her mind and switched her phone off instead, turning back to the laptop.

Well, she thought as she saved her story and started to shut down her laptop, at least some things were going okay. She had a job, even if it was just a cleaning job. Her story was coming along well (sort of). She could get it published. If it sold well she could make some money…

She just see it…_Rowanna Hailwel _(Rowan for short – she preferred Rowan), _the new worldwide bestseller! _the websites would say. _Rowan Hailwel's bestseller get's a five-star rating. New writer Rowan sells her first book. Writer from the blue has the highest rated book this month…Hilarious book by writer Rowan Hailwel gets an 'excellent' rating! Rowan Hailwel…_

Someone knocked on the door, suddenly jolting Rowan from her daydream. She got up from her chair and opened the door. It was Barney.

'Hey,' he said, grinning with that funny look on his face, and if Rowan were to look hard enough she could still see that young eight-year-old kid in his face.

'Hey,' she greeted him back, letting him inside her apartment. Barney glanced hopefully at the laptop. Rowan gave him a stern look, but couldn't help smiling. 'I was going to get some paint later,' she said, shutting the door.

'What colour?' Barney asked. He liked painting. It had taken a lot of scraping the wallpaper and painting to cover up the hideous _Hello Kitty_ mess in his living room.

'I thought maybe all different colours?' Rowan said brightly. 'I thought one colour would be a bit boring…'

Barney thought longingly about his living room, the way it was before the _Hello Kitty_ disaster arrived. Before he got rid of all the wallpaper and painted it dark again, he had to wear sunglasses whenever he went into the room to stop him from throwing all the stupid stuff out of the window.

'Mm…' he said uncertainly.

'I was thinking maybe a theme…you know, autumn or winter or something? I bet no one else has snow in their living room...' Rowan beamed at Barney, whose gaze was held on her for slightly too long before he turned away and nodded.

'It's going to be legen…wait for it…dary!' he agreed.


	13. The Paint

**Sorry for the wait AGAIN, guys. I don't really get much writing time anymore because I have to share a room with my sister now (eurgh) and my bedroom used to be my writing-place. So if I take a long time uploading a chapter it means I either don't have time or I am pulling my sister's hair out when she annoys me.**

**I usually get inspiration for new chapters when I listen to music on my phone – which is _almost_ the main theme in this story.**

**I don't actually watch HIMYM much anymore – the newer seasons, I mean. I love the old seasons, but I thought Season 7 was a little disappointing.**

**I'm also going to write a brand-new fanfiction soon…if I have time. **

* * *

Music was blaring out of Rowan's apartment. If anyone were to walk past her door at that particular moment they would have been blasted deaf by the music erupting from the apartment.

'_I just can't get you out of my head_,' Rowan sang loudly as she rolled up the rug which hid the loose floorboards. '_Boy your loving is all I think about_.' Because she was alone, she even started up a dance while collecting up things that she was moving out of the way – step forward, step backward, spin. Step forward, step backward, spin.

Rowan wiped her hands and started to push the old sofa away from the wall. When it was in the middle of the room she started to sing again.

The song ended softly and Rowan began pulling the chair out of the way, stopping for a rest when her arms started to ache. There was a short silence followed by a blast of music. Rowan smiled, taking out her phone. She considered calling Barney but decided to text him instead.

_Got paint. Want 2 help?_ she sent.

* * *

'Barney, who were you talking to last week?' Lily asked as she jiggled a crying Marvin in her arms. Marshall took Marvin from Lily and tried to calm Marvin down himself, without any luck.

They were all together in the living room; Robin, Lily, Ted, Marshall and also Victoria. Robin's new boyfriend, Nick, was at work.

Barney stared at Lily blankly. He had talked to a numerous number of people, some of which did not speak English.

'That woman in the café,' Marshall blurted out, looking embarrassed when the others glared at him.

'Rowan,' Barney said automatically, and then wished he hadn't said anything because they all looked at him imploringly.

'Who's Rowan?' Ted asked curiously.

'She's…' Barney began but he suddenly faltered. What _was _she? Was she his best friend now that they had found each other again…or were they more? 'She's a friend…that I had, a long time ago,' he said, choosing his words carefully.

The others looked at him with interest. '_Ah_,' Marshall suddenly said, 'one night stand?'

'What?' Barney exclaimed as they all gave him disgusted looks. 'No! She wasn't a one night stand. She's my best friend.'

He could tell from the surprised glances they wouldn't be letting this go so he said, 'Story time' and cleared his throat. The gang, realising a big speech was about to take place, all leaned forward to listen to him.

'Okay…so when I was a kid I used to go out and build this…' he hesitated and then said 'this tree house. Someone started making one before but these other kids ruined it so I thought I'd try and build it again. And then I met Rowan in the forest. We used to build it together out of these bits of wood that someone threw away.' He smiled a little at the memory. 'We were best friends. We were in the same class too. That was…' he tried to calculate it in his head, 'about twenty-eight years ago.'

Barney looked up to see Lily 'awwing' with a smile on her face, and he continued. 'But, um, after she went home early one day, she wasn't in class the next. She moved away. Because her dad…had a heart attack and died. Her mom was in a state. They never came back after that.' He said this last bit in a complete rush, feeling a little guilty because he didn't know if Rowan wanted him telling the others this.

'That's terrible,' Victoria said, sounding horrified. Ted took hold of her hand.

'So Rowan…she was the woman you were talking to in the café?' Robin asked, talking for the first time.

'Yep,' Barney said, trying to sound lighter. 'When her mom got back on her feet she opened up a shop and Rowan worked there until she moved here.'

The others nodded, finally understanding.

'So how's she been?' Lily asked sympathetically, noticing that Marvin had magically stopped crying, as if enthralled by Barney's story. She took him from Marshall, cradling him in her arms.

'She's fine,' Barney said slowly. 'I mean, it's been hard for her but she's okay now. She wants to wr –' He was just about to say _she wants to write books_ but he stopped himself. It seemed like their secret. He raised his eyebrows, as if signalling that the story had finished. 'She's got a job here until she figures out what she wants to do,' he said. It wasn't exactly a lie. He took out his phone so he would have somewhere to look.

He had one message from her, asking if he wanted to help come and paint.

'Got to go, Rowan needs help with her apartment,' he said shortly, picking up his coat and leaving the apartment quickly.

There was a short silence when he left, interrupted by a slightly put-out Ted saying, 'I thought I was his best friend.'

* * *

Barney stopped outside Rowan's door. The music was so loud it was a wonder no one had yelled at her to shut it off. From inside he could hear her singing along in an off-tune voice. It was oddly entertaining.

'Rowan?' he called, knocking loudly on the door. There was no answer, although he could still hear her singing inside. 'Rowan! _Rowan_!'

The music stopped abruptly. 'Hello?' Rowan called.

'It's me.'

Rowan opened the door sheepishly. 'Hi,' she said, flushing a little. 'Sorry. The music was a little loud.'

Barney laughed 'I could hear it from downstairs!' he grinned.

Rowan smiled prettily, leading him into the room. She hadn't started the proper painting yet; she'd been moving what little stuff she had so it wouldn't get in the way.

There were a few thick pencils to draw out the shapes on the walls, and several large tins of paint.

'Where did you get all of that from?' Barney asked, pointing to the paint.

'I have a friend who paints. I asked him if he had any left over that I could use so he gave these to me.'

Barney was impressed. 'So what shall we draw?' he asked. He was a little excited. He hadn't drawn on walls before.

'Anything,' Rowan said, picking up a pencil from the floor. Her face suddenly became pinched. She sucked in her cheeks, making her face look hollow and she stared at Barney with a serious expression. He stared back at her, feeling his face twitch into a grin. She made her eyelids droop, giving her eyes a dull look. 'Use your_ imagination_, Barnabas,' she said, making each word sound as if she were addressing a stupid person. She pushed her imaginary glasses up, giving Barney a stern look. Her imitation of Ms Platt, the teacher they'd had when they were eight, was so accurate they both burst out laughing.

'Okay,' Rowan said, going back to herself. 'I thought we could do a winter theme on the walls…we could do trees _here_ and leave that bit white…or maybe we could get some of that sparkly paint? Anyway, we could do the grass at the bottom….

Barney agreed (it was her apartment, after all) and Rowan started to pencil the outlines of the trees on the wall. Barney wasn't used to drawing on walls so he just pencilled some grass and a snowman.

When he finished the grass he turned absentmindedly to see what Rowan was doing. She was sketching out trees and snow. For effect she'd even added a few animals hiding behind the trees.

'You should illustrate your books,' Barney said, unable to tear his eyes away from the wall. 'That's amazing.'

'Thanks,' Rowan smiled, but she stopped, her pencil poised in mid air. 'Do you mind if I put the music back on? I think it's better with music.'

Barney nodded, switching on her CD player. He stared at her as the song began. 'Kylie Minogue?' he exclaimed in horror. 'Are you serious?'

'Hey, she's great,' Rowan called as the music began to start, on full blast. 'Just listen.'

Barney didn't want to admit it but he couldn't help finding the song extremely catchy. Rowan seemed to think so too, un-selfconsciously dancing around while she sketched trees and snow clouds on the walls. Barney couldn't help staring at her; she looked so funny dancing around the room like that. When she stretched up to draw a cloud, her hair was mostly escaping from her bobble altogether, brown waves brushing her shoulders, to Barney she suddenly looked…beautiful, in a different, more natural way.

He stood next to her, but he was so preoccupied watching her that he ended up drawing a tree floating above the ground. When Rowan saw she didn't seem to mind; in fact she laughed, even drawing a pair of angel wings on the trunk and a halo on top, giving the tree a bizarre angel-like quality.

That was what Barney liked about Rowan; the way she never seemed shocked by anything; she just took it to her stride. She was never upset when anything went wrong, usually shrugging it off with a cheerful laugh.

'I'll try a bit of painting,' she said after finishing the first wall. They'd been working for quite a while. She pulled the lid off one of the tins, peering inside.

'This is a nice one. I think it'll do for the sky,' she announced, 'but we should probably do the bottom first.' She pulled the lid off the second paint tin. 'Oh, I'll use this one for the grass.'

Rowan stopped when the music suddenly switched over; instead of her music it had been replaced by the sound of a man singing.

'_Shot through the heart, and you're to blame,_

_Darlin', you give love a bad name.'_

'Barney!' she accused, flicking paint over to where Barney was standing. He was putting something away in his suit jacket when a blob of pale green paint splattered onto the sleeve. He gasped like he'd been shot.

'My suit!' Barney gasped, rubbing the sleeve, but the paint stuck. He picked up a brush, dipped it into the green paint and attacked Rowan with it, giving her a long green scar on her cheek. Rowan squealed and accidentally slipped. She grabbed onto Barney to stop herself from falling over, the brush accidentally touching his neck, giving him a green streak underneath his chin.

They both laughed, but suddenly went quiet. Barney gazed into her eyes, trying not to smile at the paint on her cheek.

He decided it was, he thought, leaning forward and, slowly, carefully, pressing his lips to hers. He was happy to find that she kissed him back, winding her arms around his neck while music blared in the background.


	14. The Boyfriend

**I think my main reason for writing this story was that we never really see much of Barney's childhood or anyone in it, apart from when we saw him as a Goth. And I wrote Rowan because…well, I like the name (even if it does mean 'tree' in another language). Oh well…**

* * *

_**Well kids, your Uncle Barney was dating his friend Rowan. But we weren't sure it was such a good idea.**_

* * *

Rowan sat uncomfortably in the booth, next to Barney. He had told her his friends' names, but she had forgotten (she had a bad memory). She wanted to ask the guy with the dark hair why he was glaring at her, but she decided not to.

She had been making, what she thought, was an entertaining conversation about how the paint in her living room was making it hard for her to breathe and how this morning she had almost fallen through the floor because of a loose floorboard. After a while she realised she was the only one talking. So she sat and waited to see if anyone else was going to make conversation.

'So Rowan, what do you do?' the tall guy asked her. She smiled, glad that someone was saying something.

'Not much at the moment…just a cleaning job. I want to write books but I need something to pay for the apartment.' She felt awkward. 'I'm sorry, you're…Martin?'

The tall guy shook his head. 'Marshall.'

'Marshall.' She smiled. Barney got up to get a drink and sat down again quickly.

'Want one?' he asked her.

'No thanks.' Rowan glanced at her watch. 'I'm sorry,' she said again. 'I've got to go clean.'

Barney stood up and walked her to the door. 'See you later?' he asked, giving her a kiss as she pulled on her coat. 'Are we going to have another night painting and listening to your terrible music?'

'Hey!' Rowan said trying, and failing, to sound cross. 'It isn't _terrible_ music.'

'Huh.'

Rowan glanced to where Barney's friends were sat. They were twisted around in their seats, staring at them both. When they saw her looking at them they quickly turned away.

'I don't think your friends like me,' she said, a little sadly.

'Of course they do. They're just crazy. You'll get used to them,' Barney told her comfortingly. They kissed again and Rowan walked out to go to work.

Barney watched her go, before turning on his heel and marching to where Ted and Marshall were sat.

'Okay, what the hell is the matter with you two?' he snapped, feeling frustrated. 'Rowan's awesome, and yet you just sat there staring at her like she was on display or something!'

Marshall looked down at his scotch as Barney sat down next to him, waiting for an answer. 'Sorry, dude. It's just…she's not…'

'She's not _what_?' Barney asked, exasperated.

'She's not like other girls you've dated,' Ted interrupted. 'She's just different.'

'Different?' Barney felt like hitting Ted. Or maybe he could get Marshall to do it. 'Different how?' he repeated, suspicious.

Ted took a sip of his scotch so he wouldn't have to say anything else.

'She's just not the sort of girl you usually date,' Marshall told Barney, who was glaring at Ted with fire in his eyes. 'Are you sure it's such a good idea?'

'What?'

'You know…you only know her as your friend,' Ted said, smoothly deleting the 'best' from his sentence. 'Remember…friends dating friends never works out?'

'It might this time,' Barney said stubbornly.

* * *

Rowan sat with her laptop on her knees, chewing her lip. She was thinking about a lot of things.

Like when everything went perfectly, something came along and messed it all up. Why did it have to be _her_ dad who had a heart attack? Why did _she_ have to be the one to grow up without a father?

Rowan recalled when she was thirteen, her mother, after being alone for years, had finally gotten a boyfriend. Her lip curled at the memory.

* * *

_She stood in the hallway. Yes – she was right. It was whispers, and mutters. Someone was breaking in! _

_Don't panic, Rowan thought, already panicking. She needed to be brave. She had to look after Anna. _

_Hesitantly, Rowan ran into the kitchen and picked up a broom that her mom used to sweep the floor with. She brandished it over her head, carefully making her way to the door. She set her mouth into a tight grimace. When the door opened with a click, she ran forward, screamed 'AIIIIII!' and smacked the thief over the head with the broom._

'_ROWAN!' a voice that sounded a lot like her mom's shouted. 'Rowan! Calm down. It's only me.'_

_Lowering the broom, Rowan blushed, embarrassed, until she noticed the man standing next to her mom. _

'_Who are you?' she demanded rudely._

'_This is Patrick,' her mom told her, giving her a look which told her to be polite. 'I invited him over. He's been helping me with the shop opening.'_

'_Hello,' Patrick smirked, with a look that made Rowan want to slap him. 'Better put down your weapon.' Rowan looked at the broom, still in her hand. 'Don't want you to hit me with it again!' He laughed._

_Mom laughed too, leading him into the kitchen. Rowan stared after them angrily. What was her mother doing, inviting that creep over? _

_She went into the kitchen, leaning the broom against the wall. She grabbed her mom's sleeve and pulled her back into the hallway._

'_Rowan, darling, what is it?' _

'_What do you think it is?' Rowan snapped. She was aware of how childish she sounded, but she couldn't stop. 'What's he doing here?'_

'_I told you, Ro. I invited him back. He's been a big help to me. He even went out to get me some more paint for the shop.'_

'_So he's your boyfriend now?' Rowan blurted out._

'_Of course not! Why would you think that?' Mom looked her in the eyes. 'He's just a friend, sweetie,' she said, noticing the worry in her daughter's eyes. 'Don't worry.'_

* * *

'_I don't like him,' Anna whispered to Rowan._

'_What do you mean?'_

'_He's horrible. I wish mom would break up with him!' Anna hissed. _

_I do too, Rowan thought sadly. After her mom had said she wasn't going to date anyone, she was annoyed to be told by her mom that she and The Creep were officially dating._

_That was three months ago._

_At ten, Anna was surprisingly mature for her age, so Rowan was surprised to hear her little sister say this so forcefully. However, she wasn't old enough to understand what she'd seen a few weeks ago. 'I saw him with someone.'_

_Rowan stared at her sister. 'What?'_

'_This woman. They were walking out of this restaurant together. They were laughing. She was probably his sister or something,' Anna said, so innocently. Rowan stared pityingly at her sister, feeling a terrible sinking feeling in her chest for her mother, before she started to walk upstairs._

'_Where are you going?'_

'_To talk to mom,' Rowan said, through gritted teeth. _

_At least she didn't have to worry about the two marrying, she thought. _

_Still, she felt bad for her mother when she heard her yelling at Patrick for about an hour, until he left. Her mom collapsed onto the bed, crying. She was trying to hide it, but when Rowan quietly took a look into her bedroom, she was sniffling and holding onto a picture of her dead husband. Rowan couldn't hear what she said exactly, but it sounded like, 'I miss you'. _

_After a while, her mom fell asleep, lying awkwardly on top of the bed. Rowan crept in as silently as possible, carefully draping a blanket over her mother. She picked up the picture of her dad, and if it were possible she could almost hear his laugh, those dark blue eyes sparkling at her, the wavy brown hair blowing in the warm summer's air._


	15. The Writing

**I'm back!**

**Well, you would not believe what's been going on the past few weeks. At school I fell down the stairs. No, it wasn't that serious. I was just rushing out of class and the stairs were so crowded my foot just sort of slipped and went all wobbly and then I fell on my bum (ow) – but hey, no serious injury. Well, I scratched my ankle, but I guess I got off lightly. This was a shame really because I could've missed maths.**

* * *

**I've been re-reading through my fanfiction, and I thought 'Wow, this sounds so cheesy!' Maybe I should change the genre to 'Angst' instead. I never planned it to be that way in my head. Damn you brain…**

* * *

'_Today we are going to write about our fathers.'_

_Rowan stiffened in her seat. An excited squeal went around the classroom. Miss Laranat started to hand out papers. She didn't seem to notice Rowan sitting stiffly in her seat. _

_Slowly Rowan picked up the piece of paper on her desk, resisting the urge to crumple it up and aim it for the bin. _

'_Oh no, not yet!' the teacher called as the students picked up their pens. 'We're going to write about our fathers and ourselves as a separate person. Instead of writing ourselves as 'I' or 'we', we use third person. Do you understand what that means?'_

_Twenty-nine thirteen to fourteen year olds stared at her uncomprehendingly. There was an awkward silence._

_Someone yawned._

'_So instead of referring to your father as 'Dad' you would use his first name.' Miss Laranat glanced at her watch. 'I take it you all know your dad's first names, don't you?' She chuckled._

_No one laughed._

'_Er, right then.' Miss Laranat coughed awkwardly. There was nothing worse than having a teacher crack a joke and then having no one laugh at it. 'You will be graded on this, so you have an hour.'_

_Rowan stared at the paper helplessly. _

_She picked up her pen but when she tried to write her name on the paper she realised it had run out. She turned her chair to face Molly. 'Do you have a pen?' she whispered._

'_Rowanna Hailwel!' The sound of the teacher's voice nearly made her fall backwards on her chair. Hurriedly Rowan turned her chair back to the desk._

_When Miss Laranat wasn't looking, Molly passed Rowan a pen. _

_Rowan took off the lid and looked at the sheet, putting her pen slowly on the paper._

_**Jim** she wrote, very slowly. She scrawled the rest of his name quickly on her paper._

_**Jim Samuel Hailwel was born in New York, America **she added._

_Rowan bit her pen._

_**He met, and later married Lola Fairshaw. Soon Lola was expecting a baby, but to their surprise she was expecting not one, but two babies – identical twins. She later gave birth to two boys; Frank Rhys and Dean Brian Hailwel. **_

_Okay, this isn't so bad, Rowan thought._

_She glanced around the room and was shocked. Nearly everyone had done half a page by now. Argh! Rowan shrieked in her mind. Everyone's done loads more than me!_

_**They had another child, Rowan Hailwel, and then later had Anastasia 'Anna' Hailwel. **_

_She realised she was getting off topic._

_**Jim always wanted a big family but he had never really been in love before. **_

_I hope what I'm writing is true! Rowan thought. _

_**However, when he was younger he attended a dance with a group of friends he saw a girl standing alone and he invited her to dance. When they danced, he fell in love with her and they started dating. Her name was Lola. They were eighteen.**_

_**Jim Hailwel had wavy brown hair, which Rowan would later inherit from him –**Thanks Dad, Rowan thought crossly –** and dark blue eyes. His skin was pale and never tanned. **_

_**He got his wish for a big family, but tragedy struck years later when he was away at business and then he…**_

_Rowan pressed down hard on the paper, blotching up her work. _

_Finish it, she thought._

_Finish it, finish it, finish it._

'_**...had a sudden heart attack. Jim was hospitalised but he died later that day, although Lola said he knew his family were there with him. However doctors disapproved this, saying that Jim was unconscious when the family visited. It was unknown if he really knew if they were there or not.**_

* * *

**Wow, only one more chapter to go….just kidding! I've still got LOADS to do. :D**


	16. The Barney and Clive Meeting

**This is probably going to be a hurried-chapter because I've been planning out the ending to this story all morning, and then suddenly _BAM_, I got an idea! I really wanted to type it up or else I would have forgotten it.**

**Soooo…I know a lot of you readers are confused about the Barney/Robin situation, but this isn't a Barney/Robin fanfiction, it's a Barney/OC fanfiction. Although I would usually count myself as a Barney and Robin fan, I was a bit bored with all the fanfictions being about them, so I created this story.**

**And in Chapter 13 (The Paint), you remember Nick, Robin's crush from Season 6, I think it was? He's the new boyfriend. I don't think I explained that too well…sorry guys.**

* * *

**PS – Thanks for the reviews guys! 13! And my aim was to get 5 at first! :D**

* * *

'_**Now kids, it was November. You're Uncle Barney and Rowan had been dating, when suddenly…**_

* * *

'Yes!' Rowan shouted.

She picked up her laptop, resisting the urge to hug it.'Finally!' she said to no one. 'I've finished it!'

After a long three years of typing and deleting and editing her story, it was finally finished. _Finally_. Rowan was so happy she nearly picked up the phone to call her mother, when it occurred to her that her story hadn't been published yet. Suddenly Rowan was struck by a terrible thought – what if it _didn't_ get published?

She ignored the thought, saving her finished story and closing the laptop with a snap. Excited, she pulled on a coat and shoes, pulled a comb through her tangled hair and ran out of the apartment. She wanted to tell Barney about it.

Rowan walked as quickly as she could down the street, realising she had forgotten her phone. Drat.

She got a cab to MacLaren's and went inside to see if she could find Barney, but she couldn't see him, Ted, Marshall, Robin or Lily anywhere. Disappointed, she walked out again.

* * *

Not looking properly, she bumped straight into a man.

'Oh, sorry –' she started to say, but then froze.

The man had dark brown, almost black hair, which stuck up in a short, untidy mess. He had thick, round glasses, which made his deep brown eyes look about ten times bigger. His skin was pale, which made him look quite gothic with his dark hair. He was wearing a dark blue T-shirt which said _Science – there's no Science without it_.

Rowan nearly rolled her eyes when she saw it. _Well no_.

'Uhh…hi, Rowan,' the guy said awkwardly.

'_Clive_?' Rowan's mouth dropped open. 'What are you doing here?'

* * *

'I – I was looking for you,' her ex-boyfriend said, dropping his eyes. 'We should've never broken up…I wanted to be with you, Rowan. I still do.'

Rowan nearly closed her eyes, but realised how cruel that would look, so she kept them open. She forced herself to look into her ex-boyfriend's eyes. He looked hopeful. 'Clive, we broke up months ago,' she said.

'But…' Clive looked upset.

'We're too different, Clive.' Rowan felt strangely sorry for Clive at that moment. She knew that she had been his first girlfriend.

She wanted to sit down and give him a proper talk; not stand here outside MacLaren's in the cold weather when she didn't even have a scarf on. He deserved a proper talk, after all.

Rowan knew Clive wasn't a bad guy. He was funny, sweet and _really_ smart. He made Rowan laugh with his innocence and amazed her with his smartness. But Rowan just didn't feel it with him. There wasn't that thing that should be there when you're in a relationship with someone.

He was just about to pull something from his pocket, as a last attempt to win her back, when Rowan told him, 'I'm with someone else.'

'Oh,' Clive said. 'Oh, right.' She could see the flicker of hurt in his eyes.

'I'm sorry.'

'No, I get it…' Clive stood back a little. 'It was stupid coming here…I'm sorry. Really.'

'Clive…you'll find someone else.' Rowan looked into his eyes properly. 'And you'll realize she was worth a hundred times more than me. She'll be way smarter and prettier, she'll make you laugh. When you look into her eyes you realize you didn't love me, you love her. She'll be the girl you love, not me.'

'I won't,' Clive said sadly. 'I never will.'

Rowan stared after him as he started to walk away. Somehow she didn't feel like telling Barney about her story now. So she went back to her apartment to finish painting.

* * *

**And kids, maybe if Rowan hadn't said that, he would've turned a different way. He could've turned left instead of right. But he didn't. He went right.**

* * *

'Hey, dude. You okay?'

Clive found himself looking into the eyes Barney Stinson. Of course, Clive didn't know who he was. So he just nodded.

'You don't look it. Hey, let's go to MacLaren's, get you a beer.'

'Actually I don't –' Clive started to say, but the guy was already leading him back the way he came. 'Oh…okay then.'

Barney was surprised he started talking to the guy. He didn't even know who he was. All he knew was that he looked sad, and when _he _got sad, he stopped being sad and become awesome instead.

True story.

'So, dude, what's up?' Barney handed Clive a drink.

'Well – I – uh, no offence, but I don't know your name.'

Barney laughed. 'That's cute.'

Clive looked confused.

'Oh,' Barney said, surprised. 'I'm Barney.'

'Clive,' said Clive.

'So, Clive, what's up? Get dumped?' Barney took a swig of his beer.

'Well…no,' Clive said, looking somewhat annoyed. 'I just tried to win someone back and then…well…'

'It didn't work?' Barney guessed, winking at him.

'Uh…no.' Clive looked disappointed.

'Did you record yourself playing the piano and singing to try and win her back?' Barney asked. 'And then she and her new boyfriend laughed at you and then you wound up feeling like an idiot?'

'No…' Clive now looked even more confused.

'Oh,' Barney said. 'It happened to a friend of mine.'

'How did he deal with it?' Clive asked.

'With what?' Barney said.

'Being rejected…it must've hurt a lot, right?' Clive said quietly. Barney stared at Clive, genuinely surprised. 'I mean…if he loved her. He did love her…didn't he?'

Barney was uncharacteristically lost for words. No one had ever asked him how he felt, being laughed at by Shannon and Greg before. He cleared his throat, which had suddenly gone dry. 'I don't know,' he said. 'He wasn't sure.' He took a breath. 'Sometimes I – he – thought he did but then he realised he was pretending. It was all a lie…like…like a game you make up.'

'Oh,' Clive said, swallowing his beer like it was milkshake. 'Well, I loved her. At least…I think.'

Barney nodded. 'Yeah?'

* * *

**An hour later**

* * *

'I was going to ask her if she would marry me,' Clive said slowly. He felt in his pocket for the small blue box, which in it was a beautiful diamond ring. 'But she said she was with someone else. Maybe…it was for the best.'

While Clive talked, Barney spotted a woman standing, talking with a friend. He smiled because, coincidentally, she looked almost exactly like Clive – glasses, awkward smile. He could bet she was smart like him too.

Just then the woman glanced over and smiled. Not at Barney, but at Clive, who stared at her and then smiled back when Barney nudged him.

'Go talk to her,' Barney said.

'Barney, I –'

'Go on!'

'But I've just been telling you about the woman I loved!'

'Dude, it doesn't have to be anything serious,' Barney told him. 'If you don't like her, it can just be a one night stand!'

'I don't know…'

'Go on, dude.'

'Oh…all right…'

Barney watched as Clive made his way over to the woman. She looked at him and then they started talking.

Barney raised his beer in the air. 'You've done it again,' he said to himself.

It didn't occur to him that Clive had never told him what the woman's name was.


	17. The Worry

**Hello again!  
So I've recently had a review from a guest, which mentions they would have rather this be a friend-fanfiction than a romance, which I completely agree – I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to make this into. It was a sort of snap decision. **

**If you're reading this, Guest, I agree – usually I hate OC's too, and I actually never intended Rowan to be such a different character. She just sort of went that way when I started typing this. Neither did I intend to make her a music lover either – but I suppose she's sort of based on me! :) **

**Seriously, all the songs I use in this story come off my iPod!**

* * *

Rowan put down the phone slowly. She had been calling, looking for an agent, for about three hours trying to find one that would publish her story. She hadn't realized it would be so difficult.

The first one told her to 'Go home', which was a little harsh. Rowan nearly lost her confidence after that, but thinking of how long she had been writing her story, decided to try again.

Another said that while her ambitiousness was useful, she needed to hire someone professional and then send in her story.

One said that if she sent her a preview of her story, they would show it to some publishers, but they weren't promising anything. Rowan thanked them, agreeing to send them the first few chapters of her story.

Now she could only hope.

* * *

'You'll never guess who I ran into today!'

'Who?'

Barney and Rowan were sitting in MacLaren's, talking. Rowan had just finished telling him about her story which may/may not get published, and had decided, after consideration, to tell him about her encounter with Clive.

'My ex-boyfriend!' Rowan said. 'He just came up to me and asked if we could get back together!'

Barney stiffened. 'You didn't, did you?'

'Of course not,' Rowan said. 'Clive looked really upset though, when I told him. I hope he finds someone else soon.'

Barney nearly dropped his glass of scotch, but he managed to keep it in his hand.

_Clive_.

'Clive?'

Rowan gave him a weird look. 'Yes, Clive.' She looked confused at his freaked-out expression. 'My ex-boyfriend,' she said, as if he might have forgotten. 'That I was just telling you about,' she added. She looked at him with some concern.

_I was going to ask her if she would marry me_.

'Oh, right…' Barney said, as naturally as he could. 'Clive.' He took a sip of his scotch. 'What does he look like?' he asked casually.

'Um…well, he has glasses and dark hair, and he's really smart. Like, _really_ smart,' Rowan said. 'He's like a human calculator.'

Barney suddenly felt guilty. He had never really cared before if he had taken a woman from someone, but with someone like Clive, he felt bad. No, not bad. Terrible.

'Why?' he realized Rowan was asking.

_Why? Because I saw your ex-boyfriend looking heartbroken walking down the street and I invited him here for a drink, yes here, right in this very spot where we are sitting and he told me that he loved you and that he wanted to marry you. He even showed me the ring and everything. And how can I compare to a guy like that?_

Barney wondered if he should tell her that he had already met Clive.

That Clive was going to propose to her.

He hadn't know Rowan for that long – at least not adult-Rowan – but he could tell she was the sort of woman who had dreamed of her perfect wedding since she was seven years old.

But what if she went ahead and married Clive?

No, he couldn't tell her.

'No reason,' Barney replied.

* * *

'Hey, Barney.'

Marshall and Lily looked up as Barney made his way to their booth. He gave them a suspicious look.

'What are you doing here?'

'Marvin's with Lily's dad,' Marshall said. 'So we thought we'd come and see what was going on.'

Barney noticed Rowan was sitting with them. Robin was out with Nick, but Ted was there. He became even more suspicious. That and the fact that Rowan, who had looked so uncomfortable the first time they had all met, was now sitting calmly with them all in the booth.

He pulled up a chair.

'What's going on?' he asked worriedly.

'Oh, nothing.' He swore Ted and Marshall exchanged a look, which he decided to ignore. 'Rowan's just been telling us about what you were like when you were younger,' Ted told him, with a hint of a smirk.

Barney shot Rowan a confused look.

'So, Barney…' Lily said. She smiled an evil smile. 'Or should I say…_Barnabas_!' she added.

Barney groaned as Lily, Marshall and Ted started to laugh. 'Rowan!' he snapped. 'I thought we agreed that no one shall ever know that name!'

'I'm sorry; they pried it out of me!' Rowan said defensively, above the snickering. 'I told them nothing else, I swear.'

'My name is _Barney_,' Barney told the others, but they just laughed. Panicking, he repeated, 'My name is _Barney_, not Barnabas! _Barney_. Repeat after me – _Barney_.' He couldn't stand his name. He was annoyed the others knew it.

Despite this, Barney was glad the others had accepted Rowan into the gang. After their first meeting didn't go so well, he was relieved they had gotten to know her better.

Even if it did mean they would keep calling him Barnabas.


	18. The Voicemail

**What up, readers?**

**I have an idea in mind for the ending…few more chapters to go, I reckon. Well…I don't have too much writing time to spare, but I thought what the heck. I had four homework's all for one subject, two more today and about three online ones I haven't done yet. _And_ I have an exam next week!**

**Onto a happier note – it's my birthday soon! :D Finally! Although I kind of regret asking for a new phone, because I really wish I'd asked for a guitar instead. I've always wanted to play guitar, but I find it hard to stick to hobbies/clubs, stuff like that. If school was optional, I'd have dropped out a long time ago!**

**PS - Sorry this is quite a short chapter. I've typed it up pretty quick - but the next one will be longer, I promise.**

* * *

Rowan clenched her fists as she listened to her new voicemail.

'_Hey Ro, it's me_.' It was her Mom's voice, with a bustling noise in the background. It sounded like she was in the shop. '_Just calling to see how you are, love. Is the book coming along okay? I wish I could come and see you, but the shop's doing pretty good right now, so maybe soon?'_

It flipped onto the next message. Rowan had been wandering into her kitchen, making a bowl of cereal to eat, when suddenly another woman's voice came loudly from the voicemail. She choked on her cereal.

'_Hello. Is this Rowanna Hailwel?' _Rowan nearly nodded, but then realised that whoever was speaking wouldn't be able to see her. '_I'm Julia Parkits, one of the publishers from Lawton's. A week or two ago we were sent your story and asked to read it by two editors, and we'd just like to say we were very impressed. We were wondering if you could come in and consider one of our jobs as a writer for our newspapers. Of course, there would be an interview and the possibility of moving, but your story showed exceptional writing skill, more than the average aspiring writer usually has.'_

Rowan felt like jumping up and punching the air.

'_If you would call us on this number, we could set up an interview and discuss the job and book matters. Thanks.' _

Rowan hastily scrawled down the number that Julia had given, although it wasn't really necessary. She felt like the number had been inked across her brain, unable to forget. _Exceptional_ writing skill!

'_If you want to listen to your messages again, press one. If you want to delete your messages, press two. If you would like to –'_

Rowan switched it off.

She took out her mobile and called Barney.

* * *

He was half asleep, looking almost embarrassed to be caught in his T-shirt and pants. He listened sleepily as Rowan told him excitedly about the new writing job and her 'exceptional' writing, nodding here and there when he felt he needed to.

'That's awesome,' Barney said when Rowan finished. 'But can I get changed first? I feel like a Ted in these.'

Rowan smiled. 'Go ahead.'

When Barney left the room, Rowan half-heartedly wandered around Barney's apartment. It was amazing, she thought, how he managed to keep it so neat. At hers everything was an untidy mess of paint cans and books stacks, pushed into the corners of the room in an attempt to look tidy.

She noticed a box, hidden half-under a table, half-under a blanket. Trying, and failing, to resist, Rowan pulled it out. There were various things; a pack of cards, a burnt T-shirt (from when Barney 'accidentally' set fire to Ted because he was trying to prove that magic wasn't lame) and a pair of handcuffs.

There was a black book inside.

_The Playbook_, Rowan read.


	19. The Sand

**Hey everyone.  
Well...I'm really going to miss writing this fanfiction, but it_ is_ going to end in the next chapter. :( **

* * *

Rowan flipped the black book over in her hands.

_Yeah, like it would have a blurb_.

Curious, she turned to the first page and scanned the words written there.

_The Scuba-Diver…_

_The Ted Mosby…_

Rowan was shocked. With each page she turned they just got worse. They were all scams to pick up women. Was that what _she_ was? Was she just a page in Barney's playbook?

She stopped at a page called '_The Shy Guy.'_ Amazed at how crazy some of them were, she read it quickly.

* * *

_Step 1. Find a hot woman._

_Step 2. To use The Shy Guy, borrow some glasses, dress in a T-shirt and jeans, and then walk to where the woman is sitting. Then go past her and sit at a table not too far away from her. _

_Step 3. Because you look quiet, the woman will then advance towards you. If you are lucky she will have just gotten over a bad breakup with her boyfriend and will only want to date decent guys. Don't be the one to talk first. Pretend to be shy, like you don't know what you are doing. _

_Step 4. The woman will think you are a nice guy; soon you will be making out in the back of her car. And that is how you complete The Shy Guy. 83% likely to work._

* * *

Rowan was half-disgusted, half-interested, in how Barney had managed to come up with that. It was crazy; almost psychotic, she thought, by how much it made sense. She could bet that all of her friends would fall for that trick. Maybe even she would, she had to admit.

There was a noise. Rowan looked up, automatically slamming the book shut. Barney was standing looking at her, almost guiltily. She hadn't even heard him come out of the room. 'Oh…' He muttered, looking at the book in her hands. 'You...uh…found that, huh?'

'I found it…' Rowan stood up, throwing the book at him in a rage. Astonished at her temper, he stood back and the book fell to the floor and skidded across the floorboards. '_I found it_,' she repeated, slowly, like she couldn't really make up her mind about what to say. 'So nice to know I was just one of your…your _plays_ in this book so you could sleep with me!'

'No, wait…Rowan!' Barney said uselessly. Rowan was walking towards the door, flushed red. She was embarrassed. Embarrassed that she thought Barney was different. 'I'm not like that…anymore.'

'You know what…I can't believe I ever thought I'd found a guy who was different. You're all just the same…lying, manipulative cheaters who only care about getting laid. Well, it's not going to work this time. We're _over_.'

Rowan opened the door and slammed it behind her.

Barney stood still, staring at the door. The apartment was suddenly quiet. No one had ever said anything like that to him before. He was surprised by how much it hurt.

* * *

Rowan took a breath and dialed.

_Don't do this. You haven't thought it through properly. It was just a fight. It's not going to last forever. Don't do it without talking to him –_

'Hello…Julia? This is…' Rowan grimaced. '…Rowanna Hailwel. You called me up before about the job in L.A and…' She closed her eyes, her heart beating fast. 'I'd like to come for an interview.'

* * *

'You didn't _tell_ her?' Lily snapped. With Marvin in her arms, she paced around Barney's apartment.

'Well…no!' Barney snapped back. 'Of course I didn't! We've only been dating a few months…'

'Barney, its December. You should've told her by now.' Lily cradled Marvin as he began to wail. 'Ssh, sweetie.'

'What was I supposed to say?' Barney asked. '_Hey, Rowan. You know that eight-year-old boy you used to know? Well, he doesn't exist anymore. I'm just a womanizer now and once I'm done with you, I'll throw you aside like a pile of garbage._ Is that what I should tell her?'

Lily sighed. 'Just tell her the truth.'

* * *

**'And kids, your Uncle Barney, for the first time, did just that.'**

* * *

**A few days later...**

* * *

Barney looked up as Rowan slid into the booth.

'Hey,' he said.

'Hey,' Rowan said.

There was a silence.

'I'm sorry about what happened.' Barney scratched his ear awkwardly. He really didn't like speeches. 'But I promise, I'm not that guy anymore. I want to be someone else…I want to be like I was twenty-eight years ago.'

Barney took hold of Rowan's hand. With effort, Rowan squeezed his hand, but she looked distant.

'I met Clive,' Barney said suddenly.

Rowan stared at him. 'What?'

'Clive. I met him before. I didn't know he was your ex, Rowan...I'm sorry.'

_Just tell her the truth._

_'_He was going to...propose to you,' Barney told her. It was an odd feeling, almost relief, to get that off his chest. 'He wanted to marry you, Rowan.' She was staring at him now. 'He came to try and win you back, but when you turned him down he lost the courage. I saw him and I took him here because he looked upset.'

'Oh...' Rowan looked down, a sad look in her eyes. She tucked a strand of wavy brown hair behind her ear. Barney watched her closely. 'Why didn't you tell me before?'

'I was worried that...'

'That I'd have said yes?'

Barney said nothing.

'Barney, I wouldn't have run off with Clive. We weren't even that serious.' Rowan took Barney's hands again.

Barney felt relief, which immediately burst like a bubble when Rowan said, 'The job.'

'What?'

'It's in L.A,' she said to him. 'The job. The writing job.' Rowan looked at Barney. 'If I accepted…I'd have to move there.'

There was another silence again. Barney wondered if it was another moment when the clocks had stopped and he was stuck eternally in frozen time, sitting here in the booth with his best friend telling him that she was leaving him again, _again_, after only a few months when they were together again.

'Did you…?' Barney said, hoarsely.

'I accepted the interview. It's my dream job, but I'll have to stay there full-time.' Rowan felt like tears were rolling down her tears; invisible tears. It shouldn't be like this. Her dream job seemed to be sliding through her fingers – get one dream right, but let go of the other. It was like sand, bright golden sand. No matter how much you tried to hold in your hands, some always ended up slithering out, sliding through your fingers, while you desperately tried to cling onto what was left.


	20. The Last Song

**Hello again!**

**Well, here it is – the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! After this I can finally concentrate on my other stories more (although this was my favourite one to write).**

* * *

The next couple of weeks were full of frantic packing. Barney helped Rowan cram her things into a suitcase she had dragged from the store, stuffing them in frenzy while he complained that the smell of paint was giving him a headache.

'We didn't finish it!' Barney suddenly realised, when he was in between piling the books off Rowan's bookcase and sorting them into boxes.

'Oh…' Rowan glanced up from where she was trying to stuff her Elvis album into her bag. 'We'll finish it. I'm nearly done with this, anyway.'

* * *

So on the last week, instead of organizing flights and suitcases, Rowan abandoned her bags and opened up the remaining pots of paint. They had very nearly finished by now; the snowscape was beginning to look pretty good. For extra effect Rowan had run sparkly silver paint along the bottom of the walls.

After the week had gone by all that needed filling in were the trees on the walls. Barney offered to do it while Rowan sorted out the boxes (unhelpfully labelled Fragile, Not Important, Extremely Fragile, Wouldn't Be the Worst Thing If They Broke, along with KITCHEN STUFF and BOOKS).

'Oh, my god!' Rowan screeched, scaring Barney so much that he jumped and streaked brown paint in the wrong direction on the wall. He disguised it as best as he could with the blue paint, though it looked a bit strange. '_What_?'

'I can't believe…I don't even _remember_ taking this with me!' Rowan stuttered, pulling out an old book with a faded and ripped red cover. 'I wrote my first story in this!' she told Barney as she flipped through the pages, reading her enormous lopsided writing.

Barney looked over her shoulder, scanning the childish scrawl and grinning broadly. 'Interesting,' he said.

'I was only little,' Rowan said defensively, noticing the glint in Barney's eyes. 'Don't pretend _you _haven't hid anything from when you were younger.'

Barney pulled an I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that face, rolling his eyes so dramatically Rowan burst out laughing. 'You know…like the fact that you had brown hair when you were eight?'

'Dark blonde,' he corrected.

'Brown!'

'Blonde!'

Rowan rolled her own eyes, knowing how stubborn he could be, even when they were just messing around. When Barney went back to his smudged painting, she turned and started sorting through her things again. Her hands suddenly came across a slippery cover of a CD.

* * *

'Well, that's the last one.'

Rowan was swamped with bags and suitcases, her hands not even being visible beneath them. 'Here goes.'

Barney opened the door for her, feeling a pang of regret that she was going so soon, wishing that they could have had more time together. But she wasn't going _forever_, right?

* * *

They got out of the cab, a cold breeze in the air stinging their faces as they walked into the airport. Barney clutched Rowan's hand tightly as they made their way to the stand where Rowan was catching the plane.

_Don't leave me_, he thinks longingly, knowing that it's useless. No one would give up their dream job to stay with someone you've only been dating a few months. It doesn't work like that. Just look at what happened with Ted and Victoria. They dated, and then Victoria got a new job offer in Germany. She and Ted tried long distance, which crashed and burnt when Ted cheated on Victoria with Robin.

Barney swallowed as they reached the stand. The woman behind gave them a bright professional smile, her bright blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her lips were covered in ridiculously pink lipstick. She reminded Barney of a Barbie doll; her smile too plastic and fake to be genuine. Her name tag read _Hi, I'm Tara! _He saw Rowan roll her eyes when Tara wasn't looking.

Rowan turned to Barney.

Barney held her close, kissing her softly. Rowan's eyes closed as they kissed for the final time, clutching his dark suit nearer to her. When they broke apart they simply stared at each other, until they pulled each other into a tight hug.

_Last goodbye_, Barney thought.

They let each other go when the blonde woman gave a subtle sigh, indicating that the last passengers would have to board the plane soon.

'I want you to have this,' Rowan whispered, pressing a CD into Barney's hand. He took it, examining the cover. It was a plain white disc, obviously a copy, with the words _Walk On_ scrawled across in blue pen.

'Walk On?' He held it up in his hand. 'Are you trying to tell me something here?' he joked.

'It's a song,' Rowan smiled. 'It was my favourite when I was a kid.'

'Old?'

'But good.'

'Miss, the plane is going to be setting off soon. We need the last passengers to board now,' Tara said in an overly friendly voice, holding out her hand for the ticket. Hesitantly, Rowan handed it over, turning to kiss Barney one last time. Then she was gone, gone to board a plane flying to her dream job. Barney watched her get on, feeling both proud and sad.

* * *

'**Well, kids, that's all you really need to know. Rowan moved away to her new job. Your Uncle Barney stayed here, of course.'**

* * *

'But Mommy, I don't want to move!' A little girl of about seven pulled her mother's arm impatiently. 'I liked our old house! I don't like it here.'

'Don't be silly, Chloe,' her mother told her sternly. 'You've never even seen it. But I have. It's lovely, white walls, and we'll paint your bedroom your favourite colour...'

She fumbled with the keys, fitting them into the lock and turning it with a click. The door swung open, almost dramatically, and the little girl who had been complaining suddenly stopped and smiled happily.

The walls could have been white were now multicoloured. Whoever had lived there had obviously given the apartment a makeover. Against the blue background, huge, tall trees painted carefully with browns and greens loomed above the snowy ground. One tree was bizarrely floating, a pair of angel wings on the trunk. Snow was falling and someone had run silver paint across the bottom of the wall which sparkled when the light was turned on.

'Oh Mommy, look at the snow! Isn't it amazing?' The little girl pulled her mother around the room. 'Mommy, can I have my room like this? Please? _Please_, Mommy?'

* * *

**Almost a year later…**

* * *

There was a knock at Barney's door. Barney stood up and opened the door, and was promptly handed a small package. 'Delivery for Mr Stinson,' the man said gruffly.

'Um, thanks,' Barney said, confused. When the man left, he went back into his apartment and opened the box quickly.

There was a book inside.

_The Adventures of Violet Brightside_ by Rowan Hailwel.

* * *

Inside his apartment, music played.

* * *

_Walk on, if we should meet _

_Walk on, on down the street _

_Walk on, and don't even look _

_Walk on, close up the book._

* * *

_We don't want the world to see us like we are _

_We should never have even gone this far _

_Quickly brush away that teardrop _

_Walk away, darling, don't stop _

_Don't look back for me _

_Baby, walk on._

* * *

_Walk on, don't turn around _

_Walk on, to higher ground _

_Take the love we've shared together _

_Keep it in your heart forever _

_Don't forget me _

_But, baby, walk on _

* * *

_If you ever loved me _

_Baby, _

_Walk on…_


End file.
